Super bowl matchup

[Hawktawk]

This is a fascinating game on many levels. It looks like a high scoring shootout on paper but I think ultimately it will be decided by defense and QB play. I give the edge to Atlanta.
Yes it's a wish but Quinn proved his defense could befuddle the hottest QB on the planet yesterday. For all his numbers over his brilliant career Brady does not like getting hit and is 2-4 postseason lifetime when sacked 3 or more times including 2 Sb losses. Quinn game planned for him in the game 2 years ago and this will be his 3rd trip in the last 4 seasons .

On the other sideline Dan Quinn has transformed a skittish Matt Ryan into a machine. Another feature we saw was Ryan's willingness and ability to burn a team running with the ball. Shanahan is at the pinnacle of his craft as an OC .
Never take the pats lightly but I think it's the dirty birds time this year like it was Seattle over manning in 2013.

[obiken]

I think its the nightmare scenario, one team just happy to be there and the other expecting to win.
I hope I am wrong. I think its another cherry on the Brady cake.

[Hawktawk]

The Falcons aren't just happy to be there at all. Ryan's legacy is on the line. Quinn dialed up a defense that crushed manning and even severely injured they forced two turnovers on Brady in 49. He's a goat if Bevfool wasn't first. They pressured the hottest QB on the planet on 41 percent of his drop backs and knocked the hell out of him numerous times yesterday .

They harassed Wilson throughout the game. If Brady is forced off his spot or better yet knocked around he becomes ordinary or worse. It just almost never happens.I see this game as giants pats except Atlanta has the # 1 offense in the league.

They surely could lose but they will bring it on a fast rug. It should be fascinating

[Uppercut]

Remember - Roger Goodell is most likely on Atlanta's side

w

[Hawktawk]

I thought the same thing about Rooney's Stealers but they got hosed big time last night. Its really hard to manipulate a championship game to a great degree without a lot of heat but it didn't stop them in XL.
I honestly think Atlanta has more pieces on offense and an up and coming defense full of youngsters peaking at the perfect time.They wont need much help if they play their game.

[Zorn76]

Pat's open up as 3 pt favs, which at least suggests a close match up. That said, we all saw what happened yesterday, even though those lines were -6 for NE and -5 for Atlanta.

The Falcons have a legit chance of pulling this off. They have the offense to get into a shoot out if necessary, and their D is playing well above their season rankings overall. The key, of course, when playing the Pats is doing your best to limit Brady's opportunities. That's where Atlanta's RB's come in. If they run effectively, the odds increase for them. Ryan's test will be resisting the panic that he's shown in the past when things get tight. He's taken a step in the right direction so far.

This should be a good game. The SB is practically the Patriot's back yard, but I do believe Quinn will have his players prepared for it.

[c_hawkbob]

Atlanta 33-20 #quinning

[RiverDog]

The Falcons seem to have found a pass rush, and overall, their D is playing much better in the playoffs than their regular season ranking. But you can't completely shut down Brady, so I'm going with CBob's Atlanta 30 something to 20 something for the Pats prediction.

[mykc14]

I see the falcons winning this one as well. It is a good match up and history shows your supposed to take the #1 D against the #1 O, but the falcons Have an X factor in Julio and Marty ice is playing out of his mind, plus the falcons D is playing great at the right time. The pats do have a ton of motivation, going for their first SB not surrounded in controversy.

[ACES 13]

34-27 --- 1ST TIME CHAMPS!

[I-5]

The Falcons look really strong right now, like the 2013 Hawks. Brady and his receiving corps is a big factor, but I think Atlanta overall has the better team, and I really like Dan Quinn.

[NorthHawk]

Like a lot of posters, I'm hoping for Atlanta. DQ and a first time winner has a lot of appeal to me.

It should be an interesting game, though.
Belichick tries to limit what a team does best, but they are good in all aspects on Offense and even Sanu has been playing very well when the opponents took away Jones.
The ? in my mind will be Atlanta's secondary. For whatever reason, teams seem to forget about NE receivers and Brady makes them pay when they do.

[EmeraldBullet]

Falcons gonna put up 40+ on the pats. If you look at the team's that the pats have faced, and specifically the QB's they have faced since Brady returned from his suspension, the only good QB they faced was Wilson. All the rest were back ups or fringe NFL talent, or rookies that didn't show promise this year. Pats defense hasn't had to face a good team, and the falcons are legit on offense.

[mykc14]

Falcons gonna put up 40+ on the pats. If you look at the team's that the pats have faced, and specifically the QB's they have faced since Brady returned from his suspension, the only good QB they faced was Wilson. All the rest were back ups or fringe NFL talent, or rookies that didn't show promise this year. Pats defense hasn't had to face a good team, and the falcons are legit on offense.

I would say all this is true except for last week against the Steelers. I know Bell was out but they are still a legit offense.

[Oly]

I don't know how this will go. Cheering for the Falcons, and they've impressed the hell out of me this postseason. They've certainly played better than the Pats.

That said, it is really, really hard to pick against Belichick with two weeks to gameplan. He's so good at taking away other teams' best weapons that I wouldn't be surprised to see Jones and the Atlanta RBs under 75 yards each. The thing is, Ryan is so good hitting his other receivers that I'm not sure that will be good enough.

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I see this game like I saw the Hawks-Falcons game. I thought the Hawks could win by a TD if they executed near-perfectly, but that the Falcons had more paths to victory and were the more likely team to win by blowout. That's how I see the SB, too. I can't see the Pats winning by a blowout, but I can see the Falcons winning in one. The difference is that Belichick's teams make far fewer mistakes and execute better than Carroll's teams.

[RiverDog]

Falcons gonna put up 40+ on the pats. If you look at the team's that the pats have faced, and specifically the QB's they have faced since Brady returned from his suspension, the only good QB they faced was Wilson. All the rest were back ups or fringe NFL talent, or rookies that didn't show promise this year. Pats defense hasn't had to face a good team, and the falcons are legit on offense.

I assume you're talking about the regular season. Worthlessburger's got to be considered a "good" QB.

[Hawktawk]

For me there are 2 keys to an Atlanta win. We know what New England does. Quick short passes to mobile recievers with the highest yac in the league. Then they take away the offenses best player.

Atlanta key #1 big Dan Quinn . He's attending his third SB in 4 years. His game plan vs manning in 48 was a masterpiece and it's a carbon copy of the 2016 pats , lots of pick plays etc to get guys open where they can run. The last 2 games Brady has been just off enough to not be throwing guys open to tack on running yards as often.

Granted it ain't the lob but a rapidly morphing young unit peaking at the tight time. Quinn is suddenly perhaps the best coach in the league if he wins.
Nobody thought they would whip rodgers like they did.

Key # 2 the best offensive player for Atlanta is Julio jones . The man put up a 300 yard day this year. It's going to take a double team every play to stop him or even slow him down. Good luck leaving open guys for Ryan to find like the NFL record 13 guys who caught a td pass from him this year.

It could resemble 48 if they can knock Brady around like they did Rodgers .

[ACES 13]

34-27 --- 1ST TIME CHAMPS!

Bet-the- house, car, wife/gf ... It's a done deal.

[Agent 86]

Neither one of these teams beat any real quality teams in the 2nd half of the year, but both of them did dominate their respective games.

Falcons have powered through 2 good teams in the playoffs, Pats I would say only 1.

Lots to analyze on this game, I am going to watch a lot of NFL Network before I wager, but my money as of now is going to be on the Pats unless I can be convinced otherwise.

Just hoping for a good close game. I'll chime in later next week with more thoughts.

[Hawktawk]

That's about as sickening a collapse as I've ever witnessed in a football game. Quinn has to be ill and well he should be.
There's just something about the Pats. They were great when they needed to be but they were lucky too with tipped and horribly thrown balls winding up in receivers hands.
It just happens with great teams and great players. They are great and they have fate on their side.And their opponents blink.
Teams throw them the ball on the one when an all pro back averaging 5 ypc for the game is on the field. Coaches call plays which allow their QB to be sacked taking them out of field goal range when 3 would make it an 11 point game with a little over 3 minutes remaining.Result Pats 5 titles. Uugh...

It sucks. I officially hate them worse than the Steelers I don't care if they win 10 titles.

[obiken]

That's about as sickening a collapse as I've ever witnessed in a football game. Quinn has to be ill and well he should be.
There's just something about the Pats. They were great when they needed to be but they were lucky too with tipped and horribly thrown balls winding up in receivers hands.
It just happens with great teams and great players. They are great and they have fate on their side.And their opponents blink.
Teams throw them the ball on the one when an all pro back averaging 5 ypc for the game is on the field. Coaches call plays which allow their QB to be sacked taking them out of field goal range when 3 would make it an 11 point game with a little over 3 minutes remaining.Result Pats 5 titles. Uugh...

It sucks. I officially hate them worse than the Steelers I don't care if they win 10 titles.

You have to admire the Pats for the way the manage the Salary Cap better than anyone else, HT.

[Zorn76]

I just...have never really seen anything like this SB.

I did have the Pats on the ML bet, so I won gas & cigar money, but had completely given up on that possibility at 28-3.
Wow.

I also would've happily coughed up the -155 had NE not won, and in fact was already prepared to pay it with a smile.
For the Falcons, it's the little things that killed them in the end.
Not converting on 3rd and short or whatever doesn't seem like a big deal when you're up by 25, but just about everything had to go the Pat's way in the second half, and it did. By OT, you could just sense it was a done deal when they won the coin toss.

I feel badly for Quinn. He has coached that team up tremendously, and they really should be the ones drenched in champagne tonight. Instead, some of them will no doubt be drowning their sorrows, and maybe Blank will be buying the 1st round. That or he doesn't want much to do with these guys at the moment. Actually, AB is known to be a decent guy, but this is a tough as it gets.

Beyond that, I can also see the Falcons experiencing the SB hangover for next season. FA losses may happen, I dunno, but they seem like team that could slip into the same fate as last year's participants.

[Hawktawk]

Of course I respect what NE and particularly belichick has done. The pats were lucky but I agree Zorn. Everything went their way while Atlanta slowed down.
I never thought it was over . It was, as I described the 2015 NFC championship game"on life support. Then belichick gets a converted 4th down. Then he makes the almost surprising decision to kick a fg. It was a huge decision in the end.

Meanwhile Matthew ice melted. Quinn choked and especially Shanahan. Atlanta had been on cruise control so long they couldn't step back on the petal.

It will be interesting to see if Atlanta can get past this. If Ryan can. If Quinn can.
Seattle still never has but they haven't been 2016 Carolina either.
Sad sad.


I'm still nauseated frankly. It's what you get living vicariously through another team.

[RiverDog]

I agree that everything went New England's way in the 2nd half, but they went Atlanta's way in the 1st. Brady was either off or his receivers were dropping passes they normally caught.

The turning point in the game was in the 4th quarter after Julio Jones made a spectacular catch that put them in FG range at around the 28 yard line. Rather than dropping Ryan back, they should have been running the ball and positioning themselves for a FG attempt that would have put them up by 3 scores and essentially put the game away. But Ryan took a sack and they got called for holding and were forced to punt.

Overall it was a very entertaining game except that I hated seeing Brady win again and lost on all my football boards.

[Hawktawk]

I completely agree RD.For all the NE momentum Julio Jones incredible catch had iced the game providing Bryant could hit a 37 yard field goal. 3 runs would have eaten the better part of 2 minutes or forced NE to burn its timeouts.
Inexplicably following a Freeman loss of 1 Shanahan called for a deep drop, Ryan panicked under predictable pressure and held the ball for a 12 yards sack, Long held, incomplete pass on 3rd down and the upset was on.
No time ran off the clock and a defense that had spent 40 minutes on the field already was as meek as a lamb led to slaughter.

Belichick has to be laughing at his good fortune of having the last 2 SB teams he has faced hand him the game on a silver platter with unforced boneheaded coaching decisions.

You would think Quinn would have learned something about playing situational football vs the Pats in SB 49 but apparently not.......
Ugly

[Uppercut]

I think Kyle Shanahan was on the Niners payroll staring in the second half. He was probably drawing up plays for Kap and did not look down at the field.

[obiken]

I agree that everything went New England's way in the 2nd half, but they went Atlanta's way in the 1st. Brady was either off or his receivers were dropping passes they normally caught.

The turning point in the game was in the 4th quarter after Julio Jones made a spectacular catch that put them in FG range at around the 28 yard line. Rather than dropping Ryan back, they should have been running the ball and positioning themselves for a FG attempt that would have put them up by 3 scores and essentially put the game away. But Ryan took a sack and they got called for holding and were forced to punt.

Overall it was a very entertaining game except that I hated seeing Brady win again and lost on all my football boards.

I agree Riv, you give the ball to Freeman 3x kick FG go home, you give the ball to Lynch, as Bradshaw said you dance with the one that brung ya. Its not rocket science!

[c_hawkbob]

F*** Tom Brady.

[obiken]

F*** Tom Brady.

Cbob, Like Hillary, I don't hate Brady, and I don't love him. He is the greatest QB of all time, no doubt. The haters will say it was an epic collapse, the lovers will say it was all him. It was both. Remember however, RW is not going to take a pay cut to make the cap work, Brady has. Nothing special about their coach, nothing innovative about him, but the way the have managed the cap is the archetype of the modern era.

[Hawktawk]

Cbob, Like Hillary, I don't hate Brady, and I don't love him. He is the greatest QB of all time, no doubt. The haters will say it was an epic collapse, the lovers will say it was all him. It was both. Remember however, RW is not going to take a pay cut to make the cap work, Brady has. Nothing special about their coach, nothing innovative about him, but the way the have managed the cap is the archetype of the modern era.

Nothing special about their coach? Nothing innovative? HELLO???? They have designed a customized start from scratch game plan every week for 16 years!!!!!
Brady is great, no doubt, but Belichick is the difference.

There are lots of great qbs but none have ever done what Brady and the Pats have done. Brady has enjoyed excellent max protection his entire career in spite of he and Belichick being the only guys left. Yesterday was only the 7th time in a 32 game postseason career that Brady was sacked 3 or more times and the first time he actually won a superbowl getting hit that much.
NE's defense has ranked all over the map but they always make the plays in crunch time and that's Belichick's baby regardless of coordinator.
Its painful to remember but undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler was forced by Belichick himself to run the defensive play getting over the top on the little pick slant the Hawks tried to run at the end of 49 .He did not successfully do it once in practice but he was forced to run it over and over all week by his own words.

Lest we forget the team was 3-1 with Jimmy Garoppolo(buyer beware) and Jacoby Brissett to start the year. In 2008 Brady missed 15 games and the team went 11-5 with Matt Cassel (buyer beware)at QB.
No doubt Brady would be a great QB in most offenses but no way in hell he sniffs making 7 Super bowls without the architect, the greatest coach of all time without question.

And Obi who do you think really makes the personnel decisions that keep that cap manageable? Who trades star players on both sides of the ball in their prime and fills their spots with guys who suddenly become stars?

Who makes a silk purse out of a sows ear with players on both sides of the ball nobody ever heard of making huge plays in the biggest spots?

There have been several GM's like Scott Pioli who got all the credit for a while then went to KC and stunk.Weiss, Crennel and Josh Mcdaniel all flamed out at the next level.
And yeah Brady was great when he had to be but he was exceptionally lucky in the second half completing a 3rd down ball on a hit while throwing a wobbler to nobody that Bennett squeezed as the defenders stood flat footed and mesmerised, also having Edelman save what should have been a crucial pick millimeters off the ground.

And I still hate Brady like the plague. I hate the Pats. I hope the Hawks can rediscover their magic one time and give the Pats the beating in the big game they should have had yesterday.

[Rambo2014]

I bet most Seahawks are very relieved this morning that the Seahawks did not luck out and get in the superbowl!

Would have been a wipeout from the start not just the last 20 minutes!!!

RS would have been scrambling like a Chinese fire drill and Brady would have put up 45 points

Maybe in 2037 you can try again

GO LOS ANGELES RAMS

[NorthHawk]

Nothing special about their coach? Nothing innovative? HELLO???? They have designed a customized start from scratch game plan every week for 16 years!!!!!
Brady is great, no doubt, but Belichick is the difference.

There are lots of great qbs but none have ever done what Brady and the Pats have done. Brady has enjoyed excellent max protection his entire career in spite of he and Belichick being the only guys left. Yesterday was only the 7th time in a 32 game postseason career that Brady was sacked 3 or more times and the first time he actually won a superbowl getting hit that much.
NE's defense has ranked all over the map but they always make the plays in crunch time and that's Belichick's baby regardless of coordinator.
Its painful to remember but undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler was forced by Belichick himself to run the defensive play getting over the top on the little pick slant the Hawks tried to run at the end of 49 .He did not successfully do it once in practice but he was forced to run it over and over all week by his own words.

Lest we forget the team was 3-1 with Jimmy Garoppolo(buyer beware) and Jacoby Brissett to start the year. In 2008 Brady missed 15 games and the team went 11-5 with Matt Cassel (buyer beware)at QB.
No doubt Brady would be a great QB in most offenses but no way in hell he sniffs making 7 Super bowls without the architect, the greatest coach of all time without question.

And Obi who do you think really makes the personnel decisions that keep that cap manageable? Who trades star players on both sides of the ball in their prime and fills their spots with guys who suddenly become stars?

Who makes a silk purse out of a sows ear with players on both sides of the ball nobody ever heard of making huge plays in the biggest spots?

There have been several GM's like Scott Pioli who got all the credit for a while then went to KC and stunk.Weiss, Crennel and Josh Mcdaniel all flamed out at the next level.
And yeah Brady was great when he had to be but he was exceptionally lucky in the second half completing a 3rd down ball on a hit while throwing a wobbler to nobody that Bennett squeezed as the defenders stood flat footed and mesmerised, also having Edelman save what should have been a crucial pick millimeters off the ground.

And I still hate Brady like the plague. I hate the Pats. I hope the Hawks can rediscover their magic one time and give the Pats the beating in the big game they should have had yesterday.

I don't think much of them, either and their fans are so smug.

I think the genius behind their success is their assistant coaches.
It seems to me Belichick obviously runs the show, but specializes in Defense, as well he's involved in the Offense from a what are they going to do to stop us PoV and points out the opposing Defense's weaknesses. He then lets the Offensive staff go to it without much interference. Unlike us and others where the HC demands a certain type of Offense, they are willing to let it all out or modify it depending on their personnel and who they are facing.
They also practice situational football as we saw the last play against us a few years ago so they knew the play from the formation and picked it off (the counter to that was to let Russ be creative on a roll out - you can't practice against creativity).
Their FO selects players in FA and the draft that can help in these types of matchups as well as gets their buy-in for lesser salaries to have a chance to win a championship.
It's a winning formula, but without their HC, it would be difficult to reproduce.

[obiken]

Hawktalk, I just don't think he has done what Shula did. He went to 4 SB's with 4 different teams and QB's. He is not Walsh, Landry, or Paul Brown. He had Tom, he has never won without Tom. I am not saying he is not a great coach.
This why I think Shula was the best. Landry and Walsh the most innovative.

[NorthHawk]

Hawktalk, I just don't think he has done what Shula did. He went to 4 SB's with 4 different teams and QB's. He is not Walsh, Landry, or Paul Brown. He had Tom, he has never won without Tom. I am not saying he is not a great coach.
This why I think Shula was the best. Landry and Walsh the most innovative.

But you have to factor in the salary cap and CBA restrictions that didn't exist in the Shula and Landry era.
4 different teams is impressive, though.

[Hawktawk]

]

Hawktalk, I just don't think he has done what Shula did. He went to 4 SB's with 4 different teams and QB's. He is not Walsh, Landry, or Paul Brown. He had Tom, he has never won without Tom. I am not saying he is not a great coach.
This why I think Shula was the best. Landry and Walsh the most innovative.

Are you hitting the pipe OBI? Shula went 1-3 in those SB's including 0-1 with the great first ballot hall of famer Marino in his second season and never got him back there in a 15? year career? He never had a 1000 yard rusher in the Marino era.

A great coach to be sure but not even within sniffing distance of being the best.

I agree with the innovative label for Landry( more of an innovator in terms of practice and routines and of course the flex defense) and even more so Walsh. Walsh retired in his coaching prime and left a good enough team for Siefert to win the last Super Bowl for the 9ers.

As for Brady it wasn't the GM who decided to leave a healthy #1 overall draft pick with a Super Bowl appearance under his belt Bledsoe on the bench and start a skinny green 2nd year player from that day forward instead. Over 15 years he has had Tom and Tom has had him. His protection schemes have allowed Brady to stay healthy for most of his career and brady has usually "done his job" as the coach is fond of saying.

As for not winning without Tom going 11-5 with Matt Cassel who didn't even start in college and starting this season 3-1 with Garoppolo and Brissett including going into the roaster and knocking off heavily favored AZ in the season opener is winning without Brady in my opinion. It set the table for HFA.
The man has 7 super bowl appearances, damn near every other year for 15 years and is a couple of circus catches by the Giants from having 7 rings now. Granted the last 2 were greatly assisted by the inferior coaches on the opposing sidelines which includes any coach he faces.

Hate him all you want and I do badly but you're not honest if you cant give him his due. GOAT.

[c_hawkbob]

Cbob, Like Hillary, I don't hate Brady, and I don't love him. He is the greatest QB of all time, no doubt. The haters will say it was an epic collapse, the lovers will say it was all him. It was both. Remember however, RW is not going to take a pay cut to make the cap work, Brady has. Nothing special about their coach, nothing innovative about him, but the way the have managed the cap is the archetype of the modern era.

It was an epic collapse. It was also an epic comeback by probably the greatest QB since Otto Graham. I'm also very interested to see what Belichick does once Brady retires (hint: I don't think it'll look anything like now), but none of that changes what I said.

F*** Tom Brady.

[ACES 13]

F*** Tom Brady.

Why Bob?

He's classy, and the GOAT) Can you consider his body of work?

I wish it were me who rooted for him.

[c_hawkbob]

Why Bob?

He's classy, and the GOAT) Can you consider his body of work?

I wish it were me who rooted for him.

Did you even read the rest of what I wrote? I have and I do consider his body of work and I appreciate that he may well be the GOAT.

I very much disagree that he's classy though. I think he's driven and dedicated and a truly great football player, but I also think he's arrogant, secretive, dishonest and to a slightly greater degree than I'm comfortable with, a cheater.

[ACES 13]

Did you even read the rest of what I wrote?

I read your post. I don't get the hate.

[c_hawkbob]

I read your post. I don't get the hate.

If you can't accept the reason I already gave I don't know what to tell you. Except that it has nothing to do with his body of work.

Being the GOAT doesn't endear me to an individual. Didn't like Michael Jordan much either.